Arts, Entertainment & Media Campaign of the Year

Gold

Campaign Title

Breaking the Mountain of Mindsets

Client

Viacom18 Media

Agency

Viacom18 Motion Pictures

India is home to 1.25 million people. Among them are ordinary individuals who have done the extraordinary. But no one knows of them. Gehlaur, a village in the heartlands of India boasts an unsung hero: a poor, uneducated common man who single-handedly dug through a 300 ft mountain for 22 years to create a motor-able road.

Playing the role Manjhi was Nawazuddin Siddique, an actor who had only been seen in supporting roles or in films with an ensemble cast. Adding to the challenge was that films like “Manjhi – The Mountain Man” do not have an audience share in India.

With the new government coming into power in 2014, the country rode high on the sentiment of ‘Be the Change’ and Talkers Vs Doers. Echoing this sentiment, we devised a political and socio-economical campaign to highlight the contribution of a common man like Manjhi to his country.

The result was that “Manjhi – The Mountain Man” engaged a total of 23 million viewers during its campaign. It also generated a 90 per cent key message delivery with 110 hours of unpaid on-air visibility through different media vehicles.

Silver

Campaign Title

7 Letters

Client

Chuan Pictures

Agency

Tate Anzur

Singaporean filmmakers have struggled to win local audiences and this has had a longer-term impact on the quality of local production and the future generations of filmmakers. Seven award-winning filmmakers came together to revive and create new fans for made-in-Singapore content called “7 Letters”.

The quality of the film paired with integrated communications, a positioning and outreach strategy, re-ignited the awareness of and support for Singapore’s filmmaking community.

For the first time, the public lobbied the cinemas to create additional screenings for a made-in Singapore film. Media and members of the public took it to the press and their social media platforms to praise and champion local filmmaking, generating interest and curiosity towards this cinematic phenomenon.

7 Letters was recognised as a watershed moment, the new benchmark, and an inspiration for future made-in-Singapore films. It has since represented Singapore at many film festivals and awards, including being Singapore’s entry to the Oscars for 2016.